New Delhi, Oct. 14: Delhi police have decided to send drivers talking on mobile phones — even if they are using a hands-free kit — to jail.

Joint commissioner Qamar Ahmed issued the order on October 8. “If someone is caught using a cellphone while driving, a uniformed officer can put him behind bars,” Ahmed said.

Taking a leaf out of Mumbai police’s books — they arrested three persons for talking on cellphones while driving last month — the Delhi cops are out to discipline “dangerous” drivers.

“The case will be referred to a court and it will decide on the quantum of the sentence,” Ahmed said.

Errant drivers can be fined Rs 1,500 — as decided by Delhi High Court — or be imprisoned for up to six months or both.

The fine was recently increased from Rs 1,000, but that has not brought down the number of offenders.

“I was recently told by a person that he was willing to pay the fine of Rs 1,500 but did not want to stop talking on the phone. I told him that he could do that happily and continue to be uncivilised,” a senior police officer said.

This “don’t-care” attitude is what Delhi police hope to change.

The average number of challans (slips) issued for traffic offences in the capital every day is 12,000. In 2005, 41,06,169 challans were issued in 2005, and the number went up to 43,25,803 the next year.

Apart from strict implementation of the law, Delhi police have launched a traffic warden scheme, where senior defence officers would be engaged to enforce rules.

Eighty officers from the air force and 20 from the navy have been inducted as “special wardens”.

Dressed in a bright jacket and armed with a booklet of violation slips, they will be on the lookout for offenders. The wardens will jot down the numbers of cars violating rules — overtaking from the wrong side, for instance, or changing lanes without signalling.